River's Edge
by itabitaboo
Summary: One leisurely afternoon for Naruto and Sasuke quickly turns into an attempt at revenge. Both boys must battle the demons within them in order to turn things back to normal. But is that what they really want, to simply go back to normal?
1. Chapter 1: The Enemy

**Disclaimer:** I'll just come out and say it. I don't own Naruto.

**Warnings for this fic:  
**—There will be manly lips placed on other manly lips. If you can't handle the heat, then don't read.  
—There is some violence and blood but don't fear, 'tis not gruesome.  
—I think there is some profanity but shit, I can't really remember. Well, fuck, lolol there's some profanity for ya.

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**Chapter 1: The Enemy**

"Now look," Sasuke started sternly, "we're only staying for a couple of hours. I can't believe you dragged me all the way out here." Sasuke then continued to look around at surroundings warily.

"Seriously, Sasuke, you're so paranoid," Naruto retorted. "It's just the woods! We're not that far from the village anyway. Nothing is going to happen." Sasuke continued to study the trees and bushes around them in detail, planning out all the places he could hide if necessary. Naruto rolled his eyes at his friend's tense state. "Come on! I come here all the time. It doesn't matter anyway! If someone came to attack us we'd kick their asses because I'm the best ninja in town!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically.

Sasuke couldn't help but laugh at his friend's delusion. Naruto was right. Well, he definitely wasn't the best ninja in town but the chances of them getting attacked so close to the village were nonexistent.

Naruto smiled at his success. Sasuke had relaxed and was now smiling. "Time to swim!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. This is what he had been waiting for. This was Naruto's favorite spot on the river to swim. There were always lots of fish to catch... or try to catch. There was a branch hanging perfectly out over the water for jumping off. The trees in this part of the woods were huge, too. They were almost like walls. Naruto liked this because it felt cozy here. He had spent so much time here over the years that it started to feel like home, a place he could call his own. Not like the home he had which was cold and empty and never had good milk. This was a home for his heart. He felt good here, carefree. Sharing it with Sasuke, his best friend, was only natural. Maybe this would even be the place that Naruto would confess to him but it's too early to wonder such things! Now is the time to swim!

Naruto began to throw his clothes off and toss them to the side as he made a beeline toward his favorite branch for jumping. When he finally removed all of his clothes (with great effort, seeing as the blond was rather clumsy most of the time) he climbed quickly up the tree and looked down at Sasuke who was watching him from the same spot on the ground, flashing a big grin at Naruto. "BOMBS AWAY!" Naruto shouted as he jumped. Naruto followed his friend with his eyes until he hit the water. The branch was high and it always felt like it took forever to get back to the surface but he really didn't mind this time. It gave him plenty of time to think of Sasuke. He could think of how nice Sasuke looked with such a relaxed smile across his face. He could think of how kissable he was, even if he wasn't sure he'd ever _actually_ kiss Sasuke. Maybe today was the day. _Maybe I'll tell him,_ Naruto thought. _Yeah. Yeah! Just go for it!_

Just as Naruto had hit the water, Sasuke meandered up to the edge of the river to wait for his friend to emerge. It felt good being there with Naruto who was always enthusiastic about the stupidest things, like swimming in a river. Sasuke could understand, though, how appealing this spot must be to Naruto. Having somewhere where you don't have to worry, where you can just have fun is important when you've lost as much as Naruto. Sasuke had once wished he could have that, too, after he lost his entire clan. He had wished he could find a place to drown all of his troubles like Naruto did in this river, a place to be carefree, a place where he could smile and feel alright about it. Sasuke had never found that place. He had found a _person_, instead. He had found Naruto, to be exact. Naruto was Sasuke's sanctuary. He was Sasuke's special place on the river. Naruto was where Sasuke went to escape. He always felt better, safer, more free with the blond. He felt like he could be someone else. He felt like revenge wasn't his only purpose and anger wasn't his only emotion. Naruto made Sasuke feel human and Sasuke loved him for that, more than Naruto knew.

Once he made it to the river's edge, he thought he might tell Naruto today how he felt. _Taking me to a place like this, sharing something special with me, maybe it means something more. Maybe it's the right time to finally tell him how I feel. Maybe,_ he was thinking when he suddenly sensed a foreign chakra behind him. He ducked quickly, just avoiding the punch being thrown at the back of his head. He turned swiftly on his heels and raised his leg to kick his attacker square in the jaw but his attacker was too fast. He had moved quickly to the side and landed his own kick hard into the Uchiha's back, causing him to fly a few good feet back from the river's edge. Before Sasuke had time to process his next movement, there were more ninjas upon him. They grabbed him roughly up off the ground and held him standing in front of the man who had attacked him.

"Impressive. I suppose it's not so easy to catch an Uchiha off-guard. Unfortunately, you'll notice, your fate is already sealed. You will die here today and I am going to be the one to kill y—"

"SASUKE!" the dark-haired man was interrupted. Naruto had finally surfaced and was swimming furiously to dry land. The dark-haired man smiled manically.

"Ahhh, just who I was looking for." He made a swift gesture with his hands and, had Naruto been less focused on the eyes of Sasuke's attacker and more focused on his surroundings, he would have noticed the six ninjas closing in on him from each side. As soon as he placed a foot out of the water, they were upon him. They were kicking and punching him from every direction. Naruto didn't have a second to process what was happening, let alone try to attack or defend. He could only take the attacks and hope that they would stop soon. _Sasuke_ was all Naruto could think. _Please be alright._

"Enough!" the dark-haired man yelled. The six ninjas ceased their attacks and two of them held Naruto up before their leader. He walked leisurely over to stand in front of the beaten blond. "So pathetically weak," he spat at Naruto in disgust. "Come on. Show me more! Show me some of that fire inside of you," he egged Naruto on. Naruto was weak. He could feel his body giving up but he willed himself to attack. He snapped his arms quickly out of the ninjas' hold and moved his left arm to punch the man but his fist was deflected easily to the right with a laugh. As Naruto began to lean into the momentum of his fist, he was just about to set a kick into motion when his face was met with a right hook, ceasing all thought and throwing the blond harshly backward. He staggered before feeling a kick steal the breath from his chest and knock him back into the water. "He's thirsty, boys. Give him a drink," the dark-haired man ordered.

Before Naruto could tell himself to get up he was being held down. Two men held his legs, two held his arms, and one grabbed him by the throat and held his head under water. Suddenly very alert, Naruto began to thrash violently but to no avail. He felt doomed. His head was throbbing from the lack of air and he felt like his wind pipe was being crushed. He could just barely make out the sound of Sasuke screaming his name on the other side of the watery wall. He thought that he would die there. There would be nothing he could do. He would drown and they would probably kill Sasuke, too. Just as Naruto's eyes began to slip shut he was pulled up. He gasped desperately for air, choking and sputtering. He hadn't realized that he was moving until he was thrown up against a tree.

"Do you know why I am doing this?" the dark-haired man, questioned. Naruto didn't answer. He was looking for Sasuke. "Do you want me to tell you?" the man continued. Naruto found Sasuke kneeling to the left and behind the man. Two men were standing on his legs and restraining his arms while one stood behind him and held his head up by the back of his hair. "It's rude to ignore people when they are talking to you, Naruto." The man followed Naruto's eyes back to Sasuke who was staring back with a sickening worry in his eyes. The man laughed while quickly taking out a kunai and throwing it at Naruto. It went right through Naruto's upper arm, pinning it to the tree. Naruto screamed with anguish and the man reveled in the pain that surged through Sasuke's eyes at the sight. "Well, this is fun. Isn't it?" he said to Sasuke who refused to look at the man. He turned his attention back to Naruto. "Now, will you be a good boy?"

Naruto's head was hanging low as he stared at the man through dark eyes. "Talk," he commanded.

The man flashed a proud smile. "Well, first let me say that it has been a long, long time since I last saw you and you really have grown. Of course, you're still pathetic and weak and… useless..."—the man scoffed in disgust—"but grown you have, nonetheless. Unfortunately, you have to pay for your sins." Naruto's expression changed to confusion. "You don't understand? Well, let me explain. A long time ago you killed a lot of people. Among those people were my family. You killed my parents." The man's eyes were growing more intense. "You killed my little sister." His eyes fell into a murderous glare. "You simply must pay for your sins. You shouldn't be living right now. You're a monster."

"That wasn't me!" Naruto shouted. Another kunai made landing in the upper part of his other arm and was greeted with another scream of anguish. Naruto panted to catch his breath. "That was the nine—" Two more kunai interrupted him, landing further down each arm. "AHHHG! IT WAS THE DEMON!" Naruto screamed in pain. The ninjas holding him to the tree had retreated and two more kunai flew through his hands.

"You _are_ the demon!" the man bellowed.

"No!" Naruto bit out. "NO!"

This response sent four kunai into his legs. They couldn't quite pin him to the tree as they did with the arms but they _did_ send pulses of raging pain throughout the boy's body, causing him to offer up more cries of pain. "Denying your sins will only make me angrier. ADMIT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

"NO!"

Three more kunai landed in his arms. "ADMIT IT!"

"NO!"

Even more kunai were thrown at the blond, landing all over his body. "ADMIT IT!" the man had a tone of absolute madness about him.

"I WON'T!" Naruto screamed.

The man lost it and let the rest of his kunai cut into Naruto. He threw them wildly at the blond, avoiding critical spots. He wanted Naruto to suffer. Finally, through his panting, he spoke. "You... are... a monster."

Tears were rolling down Naruto's cheek. "I'm not," he barely whispered. He let his head hang low. "I'm not a monster." Speaking was proving to be very hard for him at this point. All he wanted to do was die, to end the suffering. "I'm sorry that your family was killed but that wasn't me. It was someone else."

The dark-haired man sneered at Naruto. "Look at your friend, Naruto. I want you to watch as I kill him before your eyes. Just as you killed my family."

Naruto tried to but couldn't lift his head to see Sasuke. The dark-haired man walked over to Sasuke and smiled a sinister smile. "This is going to be fun," he said quietly. He then punched Sasuke in the chest. Sasuke gasped as the air left his body. "Look at him." Naruto tried again but still failed. The man kicked Sasuke in the ribs and Sasuke let out another sharp gasp. "Look at him, Naruto." Naruto couldn't look but the anger was welling up inside of him, replacing the pain. The man then started beating Sasuke senseless. Sasuke had tried to clutch to his pride but couldn't help the sounds that escaped him. He couldn't stop the gasps or cries of pain or the whimpers as they left his lips. Naruto couldn't find the strength to look at Sasuke but the sound of Sasuke being hurt like this was burning a hole of hatred through his core. Soon he felt something choking him. A searing warmth was rising within him.

"Boss!" one of the ninjas cried worriedly. "BOSS!"

The man reluctantly stopped his assault and turned to face Naruto. He appeared to be glowing. _This chakra,_ the man thought to himself. _This boy has… changed. He… he…_ his thoughts were interrupted as the cold eyes of the nine-tails demon met his. The man swallowed hard. Naruto ripped himself off of the tree, not even offering a wince as his blood spattered all over his surroundings. He then relocated four kunai from his body to the foreheads of the ninjas closest to him within a matter of seconds, all the while staring into the leader's eyes. A shudder fell through the man's body as Naruto walked slowly toward him. _What have I done,_ he thought just as Naruto reached him. Naruto reached his hand out to the man and grasped his throat lightly.

With the same sinister smile the dark-haired man had sported earlier, he whispered, "This is going to be fun." A blood-thirsty urge ripped through Naruto and he satiated it by ripping the man's head off. He then looked at the men holding Sasuke and said in a voice that was not his own, "Get your filthy hands off of my Uchiha." The men complied. Sasuke slumped heavily down to the ground. Naruto moved quickly to crouch possessively over his friend. He trained his cold eyes on the men huddled together in front of him, trembling in fear. His eyes flickered down for a second to meet Sasuke's as he moved his hand to gently rest against Sasuke's cheek.

Naruto's body then began to twitch and shudder, as if he was transforming into a beast. He growled deep and low, sending the men fleeing from the site. He had wanted to stop them, to kill them but something kept him there beside Sasuke. He realized that his hand was still placed on Sasuke's cheek and Sasuke had placed his own hand on top of it.

Naruto looked back down at his friend and then quickly stumbled backwards away from him. Sasuke sat up in concern. Naruto stared at Sasuke for a long moment before turning his back to him and huddling over, shaking violently. He was finally feeling the pain of the nine-tails chakra. Opposing the seal like this was excruciating. The only way to avoid the pain was to give in to it completely but Naruto knew he couldn't do that. All he could do was hope that the demon would eventually crawl back into its prison inside the boy. He could only hope it would end soon. He then felt a light touch on his shoulder which he recognized as Sasuke's. He turned his head sharply and glared sideways at Sasuke.

"Don't touch me," he growled at the boy but Sasuke didn't listen. He was kneeling behind Naruto as he placed his other hand lightly on Naruto's other shoulder.

"Don't!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke but Sasuke refused to comply. Naruto wanted to turn around and rip Sasuke's arms off until he felt those arms holding his head gently against Sasuke's stomach. His breath caught in his throat and the pain was slowly turning into tears. The warmth was slowly leaving his body and the shudders were fading. Sasuke felt Naruto's hands rest momentarily on his hips before falling to the ground. Sasuke loosened his grip on his friend to find that he had passed out. He took Naruto gently in his arms and began the long trek home.


	2. Chapter 2: Be The Anchor

**Warning:** Here the manly lips find the other manly lips. Take it like a man xD

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**Chapter Two: Be The Anchor**

"You don't understand, sensei. It wasn't anyone I've ever seen before."

"What village were they from?"

_Urgghh, shut up. I'm trying to sleep,_ Naruto thought. The voices were speaking quietly but, apparently, not quietly enough for Naruto.

"They weren't dressed like any ninja I've ever seen. No head protectors or anything. They just looked like normal people but they moved like ninjas."

_Sasukeee. Shut up. My head is killing me,_ Naruto whined to himself.

"Did you hear any names?"

_Sensei! Please!_

"No… I didn't."

_Urgghh! Shut up! _Naruto groaned audibly.

Both Sasuke and Kakashi turned their attention to the blond as Sakura moved from her seat across the room to kneel beside the bed, too. "Naruto," Kakashi questioned. "Naruto?"

"Nnnghhh. Shut up! I'm sleeping," Naruto groaned.

Sakura gave an exasperated sigh. _That's just like the moron!_ "Naruto! We've been so worried about you." Naruto scrunched his face in dismay, hoping it would dismiss everyone and that they would allow him more sleep. "Seriously, Naruto," Sakura continued. "We were terrified."

_Why,_ he questioned in his head. _It's not like it's abnormal to sleep?_ Why is everyone gathered at his house while he's sleeping anyway!He sighed heavily before opening his eyes. Apparently, sleep was not in his immediate future. "I'm fine," he said. "You see? I'm alive."

"Naruto," Kakashi began, "who attacked you?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, turning his gaze to his sensei. "Um…" He tried to remember what Kakashi could be talking about but nothing came to mind. "What do you mean?" He took notice of the worried looks on all of their faces. "What's wrong? I was just sleeping. If it worries you that much then I'll try not to do it in the future," he said sarcastically.

Sakura rolled her eyes but Sasuke's look of concern only deepened. How could he forget all that? "Naruto," Kakashi began, "you were attacked. You've been asleep for two days."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed as he shot up in his bed. "Two days? Attacked? You're serious?"

Kakashi nodded. "With Sasuke."

Naruto looked at his friend who turned his eyes to the ground. "What…" He suddenly stopped speaking. _Attacked? I thought that was a dream._ The memories began returning to him. He winced and flinched as the memory of Sasuke and himself being attacked came back to him in pieces. His companions watched with concern, except for Sasuke who seemed to be battling his own recollection of the event. Naruto finally took in a heavy breath that caught in his throat. "I'm sorry," he whispered at Sasuke. "Sasuke, I'm so sorry."

Kakashi and Sakura were floored. The way that the story was recounted to them offered no reason as to why Naruto should be sorry. Sasuke seemed to take this apology in shock as well as he lifted his eyes to meet Naruto's. They shared a long stare before Sasuke spoke. "No, Naruto. _I'm sorry._ I should have…" he turned his eyes again. "I should have…" He couldn't quite choke the words out.

"No," Naruto whispered in interruption. He laid back in his bed. "You shouldn't be sorry."

Sasuke was suddenly very annoyed with Naruto, apologizing to _Sasuke_ as if _Naruto_ had done something wrong. _Sasuke_ was the one who should be sorry. It was all _Sasuke's _fault. He raised his voice to Naruto but kept his eyes averted in shame. "If I was more vigilant, I would have seen them coming. They wouldn't have snuck up on us. If I was stronger, they never would have caught me and, in return, you. If I was better as a person, I would have saved you. I didn't protect you, Naruto." Tears were threatening to fall. "I didn't!"

Naruto rolled to his side, showing his back to Sasuke. "You couldn't," he said quietly to his friend.

Sasuke was seething. "Couldn't!? I was held down by TWO men, TWO _PATHETIC_ MEN!"

"Sasuke," Kakashi warned. He reached one hand across the bed to place it comfortingly on Sasuke's shoulder but Sasuke swatted it away angrily.

"No!" Sasuke turned angry eyes to his sensei. "No! You weren't there! You didn't watch them! You didn't see what they did to him!" Naruto's eyes were now clenched shut in an attempt to keep the tears from showing through. "You didn't witness that, sensei! You didn't and if you had, you would have saved him! You would have stopped them and you would feel just as shitty as I do if you hadn't! You don't understand! You _can't_ understand!" Sasuke then turned his attention back to Naruto. He continued, "And _you_! You were beaten, drowned, and literally nailed to a tree! And I watched it all happen while two pathetic men held me down. I should have been stronger. I should have stopped them. I couldn't protect you, Naruto. I…" He felt emotion burning his throat. "I… I didn't… and I'm sorry."

When Naruto refused to turn and acknowledge his friend, Sasuke placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and forced him onto his back to face Sasuke. Naruto kept his eyes closed and sighed. "You don't understand, Sasuke."

"No," Sasuke shouted. "I don't! So tell me!"

Naruto removed Sasuke's hand from his shoulder roughly and sat up in the bed, scooting his back to rest against the head-board. "I _could_ have saved you. _I_ didn't protect_ you_."

Sasuke scoffed and Kakashi interjected. "I appreciate both of your desire to protect each other but…"

"Shut up," both boys interrupted in unison.

Sasuke returned his attention to Naruto and said, "You _did_ save me, Naruto. If anyone should feel inadequate, it's me. I watched them hurt you, the most precious person to me. Then, I let them beat me half to death before _you_ had to save _me_. You were in worse condition than I but you still protected me. You did."

Naruto spoke, letting his eyes scour the pattern on his blanket. "No, Sasuke. _I_ almost killed you. The entire time I kept hearing this voice in the back of my head telling me to let it out. It would save me. It would save you. I just had to trust it. I knew I couldn't. I couldn't because I knew that if I used that chakra it would be the pain I felt and then a thousand times over and when I finally came back to my senses..." Naruto paused, gulped down the lump in his throat, and looked up at Sasuke. "I was afraid I'd be covered in _your _blood. So I kept saying no. It was okay. It was just me. I could handle the pain. It would all pass but… but when they started to hurt you, Sasuke. I… I couldn't…" He looked back down to the blanket. "The only reason they were there was for me. The only reason they even hurt you was just to spite _me_. If not for me, you would never have had to suffer."

"No," Sasuke, exclaimed. "If not for you, I would be dead!"

"No," Naruto shouted back. "You almost _were_ dead,_ dead because of me!_ When the chakra was released I only wanted to save you. That's all. I wanted to protect you, the most precious person to _me_. But after I released it and killed those men, I wanted to kill you, Sasuke. _I wanted to kill you!_"

"But you didn't."

"But I _wanted_ to! You can say what you want but I killed them and then I _claimed_ you. I marked you as mine, _my kill_. I was only telling them to get away from my _prey_. _That's_ what you were. _That's_ what I did. I didn't save you, Sasuke. I almost murdered you and enjoyed it."

Naruto couldn't bear to look his friend in the eyes as he spoke. "Well… do you want to know what I saw? I saw _you_. I saw _you_ rip yourself from that tree. I heard _you_ tell those men to release me and you know what _you_ said. _You_ told them to get their filthy hands off of _your_ Uchiha. You can swear you were claiming me as your prey but that's not what I heard. Then I saw you crouch over me possessively in protection. And you know what _you_ did after? _You_ took _this_ hand…" Sasuke reached across the bed to grab Naruto's left hand and started pulling it closer to him. "and _you_ placed it on _this_ cheek…" he placed Naruto's hand softly on his right cheek which was wet with tears, causing Naruto to look up. "and then _you_ looked at me with _those_ eyes and let your chakra heal me. I don't have a scratch on my body, Naruto."

_I'm a monster, _Naruto was thinking in his head and, as if he could hear him, Sasuke continued. "You are not a monster. Your body tensed up to chase those men but I placed my hand on yours and you stayed there with me. You didn't leave me. _You_ didn't leave me. Maybe that monster wanted to kill me. Maybe that monster was trying to claim me but you protected me. You protected me from those men _and_ from the nine-tails because you _aren't_ a monster. You are Naruto Uzumaki. You turned your back on me to suppress the chakra, to _keep yourself from_ _hurting_ me. You, Naruto, saved me and I only wanted to save you, too. In a fit of self-righteousness I thought that my touch _might_ bring you back and so I crawled over to you and held you and I knew the demon would want to kill me for it _but you didn't let it._"

Naruto was blushing. "It was scary. Don't you think I know? I have my own seal, my own demon to battle. You don't think that there have been times that I feared I would hurt you, too? But you stayed grounded, Naruto. You were here in this reality with me. You were aware and conscious of your actions and you kept yourself beside me. You detached yourself from that monster because that monster is not you." Sasuke took his free hand and placed it tenderly over Naruto's heart, causing it to skip a beat. "This heart… this kind, compassionate, loving heart was there with me. This heart was the heart that I held and this heart was the heart that I carried home. That was you, Naruto, not a monster. That was you anchored to this earth."

Naruto moved to place his own hand over Sasuke's heart. "and it was _your heart_ that anchored me here, Sasuke," Naruto whispered, allowing the tears he had been suppressing to roll down his cheeks.

Disregarding the shock emanating from their companions and speaking before he had even realized he was forming the thought or the gravity of what he was about to say, Sasuke whispered with a trembling voice, "I love you, Naruto."

Completely negligent of their companions as well, Naruto responded with a quiet "I love you, too."

In a flash of a second the boys were upon each other, lips locked in a passionate exchange. The kiss was hasty with desire. It was a kiss both boys had been anticipating for a long time and they didn't care to be neat or composed about it. They only wanted to be closer to each other. The kiss seemed to last a blissful lifetime before it was mutually broken. They separated with smiles overtaking their faces, unable to unlock their eyes.

Kakashi cleared his throat but neither boy cared enough to look at him. "Well… I'm glad we finally addressed _that_ elephant in the room." The statement caused both boys to look wide-eyed at their sensei. "What? The tension in the air between you two has been palpable since I can remember. I'm glad you finally kissed and got it over with."

With that, everyone broke out into laughter. Everyone except Sakura, of course, who couldn't close her gaping mouth or even move an inch from her position. Not only had her partners just _kissed_ but her sensei had _expected _it and now they were all _laughing _about it. She finally replaced her shocked expression in a favor of laughter. Who was she kidding? She had expected it, too.


End file.
